swarm story July 10, 2013

Here is a little excerpt from our “bee log” that I keep to remember what went on:

June 23, 2013  Decision to requeen – bees have been aggressive (Bob calls it feisty) Jim (from Nature’s Nectar) added when asked, that they are like that when they are waiting for the nectar flow to come in. But one of the last times out there – a swarm followed Bob towards the house and would not be deterred – I sat out on the deck to read and one chased me into the house – enough!! Lots of advice online about requeening aggressive bees – lots of speculations about why they get aggressive….

So Jim advised us to put extruders back between the deep supers to try to locate the queen – wait four days again (that’s today) and then locate the queen and assassinate her. When Bob went out this morning he could find no evidence of eggs or larvae – and could not find the queen – took off one queen cell – did they swarm? What happened?? Bob got a carniolan queen (calmer type) from Jim (marked) and put her in the middle box – with a slow release – a kind of candy or something in the hole.  Hope that does the trick. If the old gueen is in there I guess they will fight to the death. … if this new one is marked then we (still just Bob) will be able to see if the new one is now the queen. Two honey supers are now on and are being filled with honey.

June 29,  2013 – checked hive –  queen is released, both hives were calmer – not as many bees collected on the outside of hive 2 as before – honey supers in #1 starting to collect honey also in #2 – more in #2.

July 1, 2013    noon – hive #2 swarmed – big swarm in the air and then they settled in the scotch pine near the hives. I was sitting on the deck and realized the air over the hives was full of bees — just flying around –I watched as they collected together and then formed a big puff of bees in the tree close by. Whew — I was worried they were going to head towards the neighbors. Later I found out they do not usually go too far.

Finally reached someone to come and help — Mark Mathews from Milaca, MN a “swarm chaser”
It is now 2:06 p.m. and Mark bagged the swarm on a ladder and has it in two boxes – Mark and Bob now waiting on the ground beside the boxes — there are two cardboard boxes and the bees in the air are collecting on the outside of the cardboard boxes. Important to make sure the queen is in the cluster, is my guess. He brushed the bees that were outside to the inside of the boxes and took them away… no one was stung.

Now, several days later, Bob examines the hive –things have calmed down — he sees evidence of eggs in the hive that swarmed (so there is a queen in there, but we don’t know which one…) Both hives are busy putting homey in the honey supers (boxes) on top of the bigger boxes that are there for raising brood. Bees do not live very long and there needs to be a constant regeneration of the “girls” (all female) to tend the brood, forage for nectar and pollen and do the other assorted tasks. The drones (males) don’t do anything except mate with a queen which happens only once for each queen — in the spring, or whenever a new queen is made (the hive can make a new queen if their old one dies or leaves when she takes a lot of bees in the hive with her in a swarm).

SO — we do not know a) which queen made it, which one swarmed, or b)if there is a new queen in the hive that is neither the one Bob put in OR the old one.  But since they are making honey they are doing as they should and Bob says they appear much calmer.

I like this explanation from the U from the honey bee experts on the Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers Association:

“Fortunate are those who witness a swarm of bees flying to a resting place. Honey bees are not early risers and usually fly between 10AM and 2PM on a sunny day. The queen and about half the colony (5,000 to 20,000 worker bees) will swirl from their hive and alight on a tree branch, fire hydrant, mailbox or even a car. The bees form a tight cluster around the queen while scout bees go out looking for a hollow space in which to make their new home. It may take a few hours or up to two days for a new home to be chosen. Bees in a swarm are not aggressive or inclined to sting while they wait. They are lazy and have filled their bellies with honey before leaving the hive, since they knew they would be without food until they found their new location. They are temporarily homeless, so they have nothing to defend.If you see a swarm, it’s best to leave it alone. Do not spray it with insecticide, as it makes them sick, dead, or in any case, ineffective as valuable pollinators.If you find a swarm of honey bees that needs collecting, contact our swarm chaser chairman to have the bees safely gathered.”

Meanwhile, the barn swallows that nest in our garage have fledged, looks like the wrens in the iris birdhouse have fledged — and I did see some bluebirds around this spring… the butterfly weed is blooming, the wild clover and the Black-eyed Susans — all is peaceful again at Bluebird Prairie

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 10th, 2013 at 2:11 pm and is filed under Judy's Posts, prairie and bees. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.